Though I don't have the time right now to give this the attention it deserves, I'll give it a whack.

I have to date few people who came out of Home Schooling ok. In North Idaho I know a lot of Homeschoolers and Home Schooled.

Case #1
A woman I know (her husband too, but he hasn't the balls to stand up to his wife) has 2 boys who were in elementry school. They complained about hating school and homework. Her solution: Home Schooling. Now these kids sit at home all day and get NO Schooling. These kids are almost as ignorant as I have seen for their age. 1 was pulled out right as he was learning to read. Can he read now? nope. Their mom continuously tells the older son he is at a high school level in math and reading (he should be in 7th grade), which is probably justification that he doesn't need schoolwork, but the reality is he wouldn't hold a candle to most 5th graders in either subject. Its pitiful, and completely legal as far as I know.

Case #2
3 kids that education wise actually turned out ok. Socially they are as backwards as they come. The 15 yo daughter hiccups and can be heard across a noisy gym full of talking teenagers. None of them seem to have a volume button on their voices. The 2 teenage boys are very courteous to adults however and I actually give them a passing grade for society.

Case #3
5 kids varying ages from 17 to 5. This families philosophy is that a child's mind cannot learn to read until they are 9 years old. Therefore no instruction is given whether they want it or not until they are of age. The poor kids are emberrassed when they are around there friends who can read. The 9 year old who is struggling to learn to read hates it because of the stigma attached to reading from his parents (who don't like to read either, no surprises there). I'm not sure what there math skills are, since I haven't yet had an oppurtunity to observe it. I also don't know if there is a certain age when children can suddenly learn math in the parents philosophy.